


The Maiden with the Starry Cloak

by MuseofLullabys



Category: Disney Princesses, Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Kinder- und Hausmärchen | Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Body Image, Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, F/M, Fairy Tale Style, Female Character of Color, Fluff, Inspired by The Lord of the Rings, Orcs, Princes & Princesses, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 23:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10546064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuseofLullabys/pseuds/MuseofLullabys
Summary: Another original Fairy Tale, this time my take on the Beauty and the Beast-ish sort of story. Since Disney won't get around to making a chubby 'Princess' character I may as well make one of my own(well technically she becomes a Lady by the end). Enjoy!





	

There was once a prince who ruled over a vast and lovely land. While a man of beauty, he was also cruel and vain so much so that his obsession with seeking a perfect and equal beauty to his nearly sent his kingdom into ruin many times over. When he grew bored of his own reflection, the prince ordered every woman of age, whether spinster or wed, to be delivered to his castle and groomed for two months to be his bride.   
  
Among these maidens was the daughter of a farmer and a milk maid. A humble girl, she had little money. So when the guards demanded a bride from her farm, and her being the only woman of her family line left, her father gave her up after being paid a handsome dowry. Before the maiden left her home, she was allowed to take only one belonging. And this, for the girl, was her most prized possession; a cloak of stars given to her by her mother and grandmother and grandmother before her.  
  
After being delivered to the glass palace, she found herself among maidens of incomparable beauty. Even so they practiced tricks for the prince to entertain him. Some could dance, some could sing, some could spin thread, and some played the harp. But every possible bride looked upon the maiden and scoffed.   
  
"What could such an ugly girl as you offer the Prince?"  
  
And she would always say to them, "I know I am not beautiful, but I try to be kind and am well read. I may not be much, but I hope that my heart and mind may make the Prince happy."  
  
And every time, the women would laugh at her.  
  
After the two months of grooming, the prince held a great banquet and ball to celebrate choosing his bride at last. The maiden with her starry cloak veiled herself with her hood to hide her face from the prince. As the Prince grew bored of hours of food and wine, he took to his throne. He ordered that every woman, one at a time, present themselves to him:  
  
"Maidens, in order to become my bride you must do three things.   
First, you must entertain me.  
Second, you must be fit enough to wear the gown I have designed.  
And third, you must be beautiful."  
  
One woman at a time presented herself to the Prince, and each took the Prince's tests. Some could not fit the gown but could sing as nightingales. Some could wear the gown but had one imperfection. Some were beautiful but bore no talent to occupy the prince.   
  
"Come now!" The Prince demanded, "Is there not one maiden among you who can pass these simple tasks! You there!" He pointed to the maiden in the starry cloak, "Present yourself before me."  
  
The maiden knelt before the prince, frightened of his wrath.   
  
"Well? On with it, girl!"  
  
"Yes, Sire."  
  
The prince then became bewitched, for the peculiar maiden in the beautiful cloak bore the soft voice of a bell.  
  
"Sire, I cannot sing, but I've read a library of books. Because of this I can recite poetry and mend wounds. I cannot dance, but perhaps we can learn together. And I cannot play the harp, but I can try to fill every day with laughter."  
  
The prince found himself entranced by the voice in the starry cloak, "Very well girl. You must be able to fit into my gown."  
  
Handmaidens measured the cloaked maiden, finding that her frame bore a thickness that could not hold the gown and her height waning.   
  
Annoyed by this, the Prince spoke again. "Maiden, I may be able to forgive this if you can but prove your beauty to me."  
  
With a great sadness, the maiden removed her veil.   
  
The Prince immediately became disgusted. The maiden bore dark skin, hair as sterling silver as the stars, eyes as earth with spectacles, and her features rounded. Her plainness made him lurch. "You are a witch! Only that can explain how such a voice can come from a hideous thing like you!"  
"I am no witch, Sire. Only a maiden."  
  
The prince ordered the humble maiden's removal from the castle, and throughout the kingdom she was ridiculed. Broken hearted from this, she gathered what little belongings she had and ran away. She ran and ran, for years the maiden with the starry cloak fled the pain and swearing to never remove her cloak.  
  
Years passed, and the maiden kept to her word. She found a small village oceans away from the palace of glass to call home. Due to her cleverness, she used the books she read to teach others. She mended as many wounds and treated as many sick as she could. Her kindness had changed the small village where she lived.   
  
One day while the maiden was teaching, the villagers ran to her with a great fright. "Maiden! Maiden! Come quickly!"  
  
"What is it?" She asked, "What is wrong?"  
"Come quickly!"  
  
The maiden in the starry cloak followed the villagers to where they led. In the thick forest, they showed her a campsite of Orcs.  
  
"Why have you brought me here?"  
  
"Maiden," They plead, "These Orcs come for many nights and steal our treasures. We've nothing else to appease them. You are the most clever in all the village. Please, help us!"  
  
As they spoke, two of the Orcs came to them, grabbing the villagers. "There you are! Where are our treasures?"  
  
"We've none! We've none!"  
  
"Then," Growled the Orcs, "We shall take your women!"  
  
The maiden put herself between the villagers and the Orcs, "Please do not! If you will leave the village be, you can have me. I will be your prisoner." The villagers begged her to reconsider, but her mind was made up.  
  
"Why would we want you, wench?"  
  
"I can mend wounds and treat the sick." She spoke, "I am sure even among _you_ that skill has use."  
  
The Orcs looked to one another before taking the maiden. For many days they carried her with them in their caravan until they reached their castle of rock and stone. She was lead through many halls and many doors until she reached a set of chambers. "Our Lord," They spoke at last, "Has been ill for many weeks. We've tried all we know but he worsens."  
  
The maiden entered his chambers, finding the towering beast who now lay ill in bed. She knelt by the Orc Lord's bedside, remembering her books and got to work.  
  
"Who are you?" The Orc wheezed.  
  
"Your prisoner," She said, "Now rest. You will be better soon."  
  
Indeed for days, the maiden in the starry cloak tended to the Orc. She spoke to him while mending his wounds, and day by day the Orc Lord's health improved. After a week he was mended fully.   
"Thank you, maiden!" The Orc praised after his treatment was over, "Ask me anything, maiden, anything at all and you shall have it!"  
  
The maiden thought long and hard before speaking, "Your kind Lordship, I only ask one thing. That you leave my village be. They have been so very kind to me. Do this, and I will remain here all of my days."  
  
Taken aback by her humble request, the Orc replied, "I shall do that and more, maiden. I will give the village their treasures back. And you will no longer be my prisoner, but my guest. You may leave whenever you choose, but I do ask that you return for I have grown fond of your company."  
  
From then on, the Orc and the Maiden in the starry cloak began a friendship. Within the months they taught one another many things. She taught him how to read and tend a garden, and he taught her how to wield a sword and ride on horseback. They would bring laughter to one another. After the many, many months the Orc knelt before the maiden.   
  
"I am afraid you have stolen something from me."  
  
"What might that be?" She asked.  
  
"My heart, maiden." The Orc held her hands, "I wish to make you my bride."  
  
The maiden, though happy, remembered the cruel words of the Prince in the palace of glass, and feared the same reaction from the Orc. "Your grace, if you look upon me without my cloak, you will no longer want me to be your bride."  
  
"Nonsense." The Orc said, "I know that I am ugly, maiden, but you are beautiful. You are clever and kind, you teach me many things as I teach you, and we fill one another's days with laughter. Please, maiden, be my bride."  
  
The maiden agreed but told the Orc that she will not be seen beneath her veil until their wedding day. He agreed, and the date was set.   
  
Every kingdom, noble or peasant, was invited to the humble affair. The villagers of the Maiden in the starry cloak's new home were honored guests, of course.   
  
During the days before the wedding, the maiden hid in the top of the castle. She spent those days with her beloved cloak, taking great pains to fashion it into a gown of her own.   
  
As the ceremony began, the maiden made her way down the stairwell.  
  
Only to be stopped by the Prince.  
  
He was no longer a man of beauty. No, he was a starving husk with deep sunken eyes and dressed in rags. "I have found you at last, my bride."  
  
The maiden looked upon him coldly, attempting to walk past him but he held her at bay. "What do you, Prince, want with an ugly hag like me?"  
  
"My kingdom is in ruin," He said, "My queens, all of them, have stolen a piece of my kingdom. I am no more than a beggar now."  
  
"That, Sire, is not _my_ qualm." She took a step away from the Prince, but he grabbed her by the arm.  
  
"You will be my bride! I will not suffer alone!"  
  
The maiden drew her sword, holding it to the Prince's neck, "No, Prince, I will **not**. I will not marry a beast with such an ugly heart."  
  
"Ah, but you will wed an Orc." He mocked, "Tell me do you truly think even that monster will want an ugly creature like you?"  
  
"It does not matter if I am what he wants." She told him, "It does not matter if I am not what you want. If he accepts me I shall be happy. If he rejects me, I will live as a spinster. Happily. And you, vile pathetic child, will always remain as you are. Ugly."   
  
She sheathed her sword, leaving the prince to his thoughts. After long moments, he wondered away from the castle of stone and rock, never to be seen again.  
  
The maiden rushed to the gardens to meet her groom. The Orc saw his bride at last; her skin was dark, her hair as sterling silver as the stars, her eyes like the earth but she wore spectacles, and her features rounded. When she met him at the altar, he smiled happily at her. The Maiden in the starry gown and the Orc Lord married and lived happily ever after.


End file.
